Science & Faith
by his last cigarette
Summary: When Roxanne wakes up in the middle of a dusty, old room, she's told that she's been transmuted into a successful chimera by the hands of National Alchemists. Now, being Greed's pawn in his plan to reach immortality, she has nothing to do but follow Roa, Dolcetto, Bido and Martel. But as time passes she begins to realize that maybe Greed isn't the normal homunculus. Greed/OC
1. Tried to Break Love to a Science

Sometimes, in the middle of the darkness in which you find yourself, there's light.

Let it be hope, or faith, or love, or warmth, or an actual light, there always is one. I didn´t know how much had I waited for it, or even if I had been trying to search for it, but when it came it wasn't delicate or beautiful either. It was painful, it was harsh and it was a fistful of coughs mixed into my throat, threatening to rip it off.

I turned to my side and spluttered out whatever I had in my windpipes, trying hard to breath though I felt as if my throat was about to be ripped from the pressure. After a few coughs I finally opened my eyes, my vision blurring before they focused into a dirty floor. I felt dizzy, the solid floor before me feeling cold under my fingers. When my eyes finally adjusted to the strange and dim light, my eyes widened, my body throwing itself back as a natural reaction.

I screamed, wanting to put my hands on my head's sides, but knowing that those weren't hands. Those weren't _my_ hands. I slowly raised them to my eye level and sweat broke on the back of my neck.

My fingers were longer—now the size of a normal piano player—while before they had been normal sized. My nails were sharp, and they were all bitten down to _flesh_ before. My skin was paler than I remembered. I finally guided my fingers to my face and touched it, sighing as I realized my features hadn't changed, at least not much. Continuing with my hair, I pulled a strand in front of my eyes to see that my hair was shorter, and it was a darker tone. It was black.

"W-what… is this…?" I asked in a raspy voice which was definitely mine.

And somehow, it was smoother than before, almost like a purr. I began to shake even more than before, running my hands through my head before I found another thing _protruding_ from my head. With trembling hands, I touched them, both exactly identical. They were soft and I could _feel them_. I had a sinking feeling and, before I even thought about it, snapped my fingers, whimpering as the sound was stronger than what I thought it would be.

I was tempted to scream again as I realized they were _my ears_. Moving a tail that I found out had also been grown from my tailbone, I stood up with wobbly knees. I nearly fell, but I supported myself on the rock wall by my side. Fearing what could come from the half opened door, I hesitated before moving my feet through the floor, guiding my hand to the knob.

And just as I opened it, a figure opened it too. Fear struck me immediately as I watched the overly tall and scary man being taken aback. With a blood curling scream, I fell on my bum to the floor and crawled back to the middle of the room, tears springing from my eyes.

"Please, don't kill me!" I cried.

"Kill… you?" he frowned, taking a step forward.

I shouted again and covered myself with my arms, burying my face between my knees. This couldn't be happening. What the hell was going on? Where was I? Why was I here? Who was that man? Why couldn't I remember _anything_?

"Roa, what are you doing?" a voice asked behind him.

It was a female and, for a moment, a feeling of ease filled me. Maybe because I was more comfortable around a girl, or maybe because a girl had less tendency to do harm unless she was a dog of the military. Looking up, a blonde, slim female glanced at me, frowning.

"What is she doing here?" she asked in a thread of voice, as if asking so to herself.

"I don't know," the wardrobe man answered her. "She wasn't in the bedroom we left her in, so I assumed she had woken up. I was just about to call Greed, but because he wasn't at the bar I guessed he was down here. I found her instead."

"Find Greed, tell her she finally woke up," she commanded, and the wardrobe man retrieved from the room.

I tensed again as she approached me, feeling that she could be harmful to me. She frowned again but afterwards adopted a softer look on her face, crouching a few meters from me. She was smiling at me, and as scared as I was, I had to admit that she couldn't possibly mean harm to me to try so hard. Not with that expression.

"Hey there," she commenced slowly and friendly. "You must be really confused, eh?"

"W-who a-are you?" I stuttered out.

"I'm Martel," she introduced. "Nice to meet you."

"What am I doing here? Who was that before? Who's Dolcetto and Greed? How did I get here? Why can't I remember anything?"

I sobbed and run my wrist through my nose, trying not to seem _too_ weak.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," her hand touched my shoulder and I flinched, about to slap it off.

But her touch was warm, and I felt cold.

I gazed up at her and she rubbed it with affection, a loving look in her face. Whatever had happened to me, for sure had happened to her. Her features were also somehow familiar, even though I was positive that I had never met her in my life.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I…" I swallowed. "I'm Roxanne."

"Well, Roxanne," she beamed softly. "You must be really hungry, and also, you may want some answers, am I right?"

I nodded effusively and she stood, offering me a hand. I stared at it for a couple seconds before I took it, her strength unlikely from a body like hers. I began to realize that maybe she was as human as I.

"Why do I have a tail and ears?" I asked.

"It'll all be explained soon, Roxanne," Martel promised, placing a hand again on my shoulder and looking into my eyes. "Trust me."

And for some foreign and strange reason, I did.


	2. In an Act of Pure Defiance

"Why am I here?" I asked for the seventh time.

We were sitting now in a couch on a much smaller room than before. It was a living room, from what I could see, though there were no windows. Martel sat with her legs crossed, sighing in boredom as we waited for something—I honestly hoped the wardrobe man wouldn't come around.

Martel was about to sigh again and explain that she'd tell me later when the door opened, and a short man with rattled clothing came in. His nose was long and his head was bald, his eyes small and his mouth big with rotten teeth. It looked really out of place.

He stared at me when he froze, eyes going wide. I uncomfortably shifted in my place, discreetly trying to get away from him. He was kind of weird, and that was coming out from someone who had ears and a tail. He took a step closer to me and I flinched.

"Bido, please, get off her, she's still new to this," a male voice came out of the door, and I turned to it.

It was a boy who seemed about my age. He had dark hair, only a shade lighter than mine, and his eyes were a nice tone of warm blue. Dressed in decent clothing, he moved to the Bido beast and patted his bald head, smiling at him. That's when I noticed that Bido had a tail too, only his was a reptile's.

"Fine," the small man replied with another grin.

I looked at them both with a weirded out expression and then the door opened again, only this time it was a familiar face. I yelped as wardrobe man came inside, looking at us all. He smirked slightly at Bido and sat on another couch, one that he occupied all by himself.

"Mr. Greed's coming here now," wardrobe explained. "He just had to take care of a few things."

"Alright then," the boy who looked my age placed his hands behind his head. "So. Do you have a name?"

It took me a short while to figure out that the question was directed to me. I blushed and nodded, mumbling out one of the only things I could remember about me.

"I'm Dolcetto," he responded.

"And I'm Bido," the smaller one grinned.

"And I'm Roa," a booming voice spoke, and I shrieked in surprise.

Common laughter filled the room and I blushed deeply, embarrassed about my reaction. I didn't want to embarrass myself further, so I sat right and met the floor with my gaze.

"She's a shy one," Dolcetto snickered and I shuffled my shoulders. "Oi, is that a tail?"

I frowned and grabbed it, placing it on my lap to try and stop it from moving. I was doing so unconsciously, and I cursed inside my head. I really didn't want to bring more attention to myself than I was already doing. My hair was messy enough to hide most of my ears, and seeing that the fur of my tail was as black as my hair, it would only seem like more messy hair.

"And those are ears," Martel concluded, making my teeth clash against each other. "Cat ears. You were mixed with a cat."

"Mixed?" I looked up at her, sweat breaking again on my back.

"You're a chimera," Dolcetto explained, flopping down on one of the armchairs as Bido sat on the floor close to him.

"A c-chimera…?" I stuttered, my eyes going wide and my pupils shrinking with horror. "I'm… a monster…?"

"No," Martel put a hand on my shoulder, and I turned my head to look at her soft eyes. "You are _not_ a monster, Roxanne."

"But…"

"You're not a monster," Bido explained. "I have a tail too, you know."

"Bido was transmuted with a lizard, as I was transmuted with a dog," Dolcetto explained, then he raised his hand to point at wardrobe with his thumb. "Roa there was transmuted with a bull, and Martel with a snake."

"You are all chimera's?" I asked, surprised. "But… we can talk and… you all look human…"

"Ah, the magic of the Red Stones," a voice that seemed to speak sarcasm fluently spoke from the door, and we all turned to it. "Now, what a pretty chimera you turned out to be, sweetheart."

This man… he had to be Greed. His sharp teeth were full in view, and for a moment I believed he had been transmuted with a shark. Violet eyes grinned maliciously at me with glee as his tanned skin and dark hair glowed with the light in the room. He was dressed as a rich man and, honestly, looked like a pimp. I had a feeling he was.

"Mr. Greed," Dolcetto had a tone of loyalty in his voice. "You came back sooner than expected, eh?"

"Things are easier now that all National Alchemist are in Central," he shrugged his strong shoulders and began to approach where I was seated, my figure trembling before I could stop it. "Now, what might your name be?"

"She's—"

Greed raised his hand and Martel stopped, confused as to why he didn't let her speak. I watched as he crouched like Martel had done before, only he leaned into me and watched my face closely. I tried not to show just how much I feared him. There was something about him… some kind of _aura_… This Greed guy… he was pretty dangerous.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" he asked again.

"R-Roxanne," I spluttered out.

"Roxanne, uh?" his hand lifted and he pulled my chin up, inspecting my face as if I was a new object of value that now belonged to him. His lavender eyes found my ears and he reached to touch them, but my hands sprung up and grabbed his wrists with a death grip. I hissed at him instinctively, not knowing how the hell I had been so fast or why exactly was I hissing. But he retracted and grinned wider, standing in full height.

"Nice name," he barked out a laugh and I hissed louder. "I like you, Roxy."

"My name isn't _Roxy_," I turned my eyelids into slits.

"It's how I'll call you from now on, kitty," he grinned. "Welcome to The Devil's Nest, Roxy, your new home."


	3. I Broke Her Heart

There were more introductions as Martel showed me Devil's Nest. I met a few more chimeras and a man who merely scoffed at us. Later on the snake chimera told me that he was Kimblee, a prisoner from the military. She explained that he was on our side, so no harm would come from him. I didn't really trust him. He had a strange look in his eyes.

Next one I met was Tucker, a buff man who hid behind a coat and looked strange behind round glasses. He was brief with his introduction and disappeared just as quick as Kimblee. I didn't see much of the Devil's Nest's guts. All Martel showed me was merely enough for me to know my way around. It turned out that I was going to share room with her, Dolcetto and Bido. Roa was in the room, too, but he had night turn and would be mostly sleeping at day.

It was late when Martel and I finally showed up at the main part of Devil's Nest. There were couches, coffee tables, and a bar on the side. A few drunk men were sitting on the stools, but they were already stumbling out. I didn't feel tired at all, and I wondered at what time had I woken up from my… stupor.

"Ah, finally you two are here," Greed's voice commented from the couch, a wobbly girl leaning on him. "Did you like the place, Roxy?"

"Can't say I do," I crossed my arms uncomfortably.

Even though I had only met the man five hours ago, I already hated him. For whatever reason, whenever he was around, my cat senses acted up and I just… got upset. Not upset, upset, but more like anxious. He was a dangerous person, and my cat senses were trying to tell me so. I wouldn't please him, but I wouldn't displease him either. I couldn't do anything risky with him. It would be a contradiction to my instincts.

"Why so serious, Roxy?" Greed smirked, his hand cupping the girl's shoulder. "If you're jealous you can always come here on my other side."

"I'm not a whore, thank you," I responded, tightening my crossed arms.

His smirk only widened, and he shrugged—as if being helpless with me. I could feel Martel behind me, her hand on my shoulder. I turned around and she smiled at me, her lips slightly puckered out with a friendly tone. I relaxed and smiled back.

"Let's settle you officially here, okay, Roxanne?" she offered.

I nodded back slowly and we walked inside the staff part of Devil's Nest again. All the tension I had on my shoulders before vanished as Greed also disappeared. Martel, noticing so, gave out a tiny smile of comprehension.

"I know Mr. Greed seems like a jerk, but he's not like that, you know."

I looked up, seeing that she had paused, though she wasn't looking at me. Her back was facing me, and I had feeling that her respect for Greed ran deeper than just working with him. I had so far learned that they worked for him, that they had a sick loyalty to him and that he was exactly what I thought of him first—a pimp.

My morals were lashing out at me from my insides.

"Can you just explain everything?" I asked, breathing heavily. "I have no idea where the fuck is Dublith. Why am I here, Martel? Why am I a chimera? Who did this to me…? To us? Who is Greed? Why are you so fond of him? Why—"

"I think," a voice cut, and we both turned around to see Dolcetto leaning against the door, which I hadn't heard it opening. "That we all just need to sit down and start to speak."

I merely watched him as he raised his gaze, meeting mine. Finally, with a nod, we all three moved our feet towards the lounging room—I didn't know if it was its name, it just seemed fitting. When we walked inside there were a few chimeras in there, one of them Donna, who was a mix with a crocodile. She raised from her seat as she saw Dolcetto and disappeared out of the door, a furious blush covering her cheeks. I looked at the dog chimera, but he didn't see anything, apparently.

Martel nudged me and I set my sight on her, almost giggling when she put a finger to her mouth as a signal for silence. I mimicked it to accept it and we sat on the couch. I honestly liked Martel, even though I almost didn't know her. She was very nice.

"So," Roa sat back. "I'm taking it it's time for some story telling."

"The poor girl's been waiting for half a day, Roa, what did you expect?" Felix, a mix with a scorpion, sat back on the couch beside Martel. "Who goes first?"

"I don't care who goes first," I sighed. "I just want answers."

"Then ask your questions," Dolcetto scoffed.

I bit my lip and gnawed on it incessantly. I just had _so many questions_. I honestly didn't know where to begin. And I didn't know if I could just ask anything, maybe Greed didn't want me to know something.

"Where are we?" I began with something simple.

"Dublith, south of Central City," Martel answered. "Central city is where all the military is concentrated."

"Why are we here?" I thought this would be a simpler question than it was.

It wasn't.

Not only was the story long, but it also had a lot of things underneath what it really was. The war between the military and Ishbal, the special brigade in which Dolcetto, Roa and Martel were. The greedy attitude of the National Alchemists and the massacre that took place in the East. I thought my head was about to explode.

But then they told me about Laboratory five, about how they had been experimenting on them—and apparently, me too.—and how wrong it had all been. Then I jumped in with another question, which had been eating my brain ever since I met him.

"And how does Greed fit into all of this?" I pondered out loud.

The chimeras all looked at each other and Dolcetto spoke as the voice of the group, with a smile on his face and his hands behind his head.

"Greed's the hero, somehow," he chuckled.

"The hero…?" I frowned.

"That's a story for another day," Martel patted my shoulder. "Maybe we should stick to what we've told you so far, it _is_ a lot of information."

"Y-yeah," I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "It's a lot to consume in one night."

"Don't worry," Felix popped in. "Tomorrow we'll talk more about this. You were just a little bit late in waking up."

"I wonder why," Martel frowned, scratching her head.

"We'll find out somehow," Dolcetto stood and Roa followed, both of them walking out. "Hey, have any of you seen Bido…?"

I watched them until they were gone and turned to Martel, who was tracing the patterns of her violet tattoo with her nails in an act of boredom. She looked up and smiled, standing up and offering a hand.

"Come on, Rox," she grinned. "Let's go get a drink."


	4. As I Pulled Apart Her Theories

I woke up with a start, flashes of my dream passing before my eyes in a blur of black and red. Gasping for a breath, my hand shot to my rapidly moving chest, sweat beginning to form on the back of my neck. It was the kind of sweat that was cold from the torture of nightly demons.

I didn't remember the nightmare at all.

Pushing away the covers, I made a beeline to the door, noticing that none of the chimeras who were supposed to share room with me were there. As I opened the door, the muffled sounds became a bit clearer, and I already heard the blubbering of people coming from the main room of Devil's Nest. Walking leisurely to it, my feet subconsciously took me to where Martel and Dolcetto were talking, the only people in the room being the chimeras and other disfigured misfits.

"Hey, Roxanne," Dolcetto smiled my way in a friendly manner, the snake chimera turning around when he raised his hand to wave at me.

"Oh, good morning," Martel grinned as a welcome sign.

"Good morning," I responded, sighing as I sat with them. Breakfast was served right in the table, enough for an entire army, and my mouth watered. "This looks amazing."

"I know, right?" Dolcetto barked with a laugh.

"Mr. Greed managed to find a cook amongst the chimeras on Laboratory Five," Martel leaned back and rubbed her belly. "Urgh. I'm stuffed."

"Mr. Greed, uh?" I pondered while I chewed on a piece of toast with jam. "I still don't get why you all are so thankful to him. He doesn't really treat you any especial."

Both chimeras shared a look and I had the feeling that they were about to tell me another story. But right before they could, the front door opened and in walked Jesus himself, the saviour of all fucking chimeras.

Notice the sarcasm.

"Good morning, everyone," he smirked. I realized that I would never see him smile genuinely. Not that it really bothered me.

Greed was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and looking just as clean. His sharp teeth glistened in an eerie way this time, which sent shivers to places that had only been shook back when I woke up from my nightmare this morning.

He walked inside as if he was the king of the place, women trailing behind him and men clapping on his back or giving him thumbs up. Most of the people gave him space to sit down, and just as I thought he was about to sit among the women who were giggling at him, he took a chair and patted Bido's bald head, grabbing the cookie before Felix and chewing it down.

It surprised me, to be honest. I had taken him for the egocentric, self-absorbed bastard that he looked like—and spoke like—so when he treated Bido like an equal, I was honestly confused.

"Today," Dolcetto began, snapping me out of my daydream. I looked at him and saw his serious but friendly pose; arms crossed and a soft look. "We are going to be around to make some amends with a gang on the south of the city. Nothing serious, mind you, but Martel and I thought that you could come with us, seeing as you could use the fresh air."

"Sure," I agreed.

"Besides," Martel added. "Who knows? Maybe you're from Dublith and you'll remember something when you get out."

"Yeah," I nodded with a smile. "Sure, I'm in!"

They both abruptly stood, so I finished the orange juice in front of me and scraped the chair back, following my two new friends out of Devil's Nest. Who knew? Maybe I really would remember something.

Greed watched as his three pawns walked out of his bar, one of them slightly hesitating before she completely closed the door. With a smirk, he pulled himself from the table, making a certain half lizard chimera raise his gaze from the food. The homunculus remembered back when he had found him. Barely standing on his feet, Bido had barely been able to follow him out, but with Greed's help he escaped. These were the best followers he had, along with the Special Forces chimeras.

"Where are you going, Mr. Greed?" Felix questioned mildly, finishing off his coffee.

"I need some red stones," he rubbed his belly as an act of sloth. "Today will be a long day. I'm thinking that Dolcetto and Martel might not be in their senses. That girl screams trouble with capital T."

"Are you going to kick her out?" Bido looked expectantly at him.

The man actually thought about it for a moment. Only he seemed to know who she really was, the rest seemed to somehow forget her. This was awfully strange. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he had practically ripped her out of Tucker's arms. What had the ex National Alchemist done to her?

His sin was getting the best of him, the Ouroboros tingling and burning slightly. He felt greedy. Greedy for information, for knowledge, for a new round of things that he wanted to have. One of them was the most urgent, which was a red stone, and the second one was that girl's trust like the rest of his minions.

"Not yet," Greed finally answered with a tug on the side of his lips.

Bido and Felix stared as Greed walked off to the insides of Devil's Nest, Roa stopping by the door just to see his expression. The three chimeras stood by each other and watched with a frown and confused glances how their master laughed freely along the way.

"Do you think it has to do with the red stones?" Felix asked Roa.

"I'm leaning more to the fact that the new girl doesn't have a clue about who she is herself," Roa crossed his arms. "His sin is coming out strongly."

"We better call Martel and Dolcetto up," Felix rubbed the back of his head. "This might get messy."

"Am I going to have to go get them?" Bido asked, pulling on Felix's robes.

"Probably," he sighed, patting his head. "And warn them about Greed's sin, especially her, we don't want to cause her a trauma so soon."

"Okay," he nodded, crawling away from the bar.

Felix was still worried, though. He could hear Greed's laughter all the way from there.


End file.
